When asked about influences in life, a good portion of students refer to their parents. After all, the initial 17, 18 years of a person’s life are spent in the presence of their parents; it only seems fitting that they would be highly influential. Because of this, I’m sure that it will come to no shock to you that I am writing about my father. However, I hope that this story will be a bit different from the happy cookie-cutter stories that everyone tells. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have had a marvelous life. If you are expecting some sort of pity story about the terrible little life that I have had in my so few 16 year, you will surely be disappointed. Sure, my father has influenced me in ways positive and negative, but growing up is not expected
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Sure there are the physical characteristics and even mental thought processes that have similar tendencies, but it is the in-depth closeness that I have always drawn from. You see, it is not as if we are synonyms so much as the same word. We have nearly identical mannerisms, planning strategies, and even, at times, thoughts. Aside from the “nice that someone understands” factor, this does have one other prominent advantage. I have had the opportunity to watch my father make all of the mistakes that I could have made. And it is because of these mistakes that he has become the most profound influence in my …show more content…
I remember being six years old when I began to worry about my father killing himself. Again, this may seem like a very sorrowful sentence, but it made me realize something very important about myself: that I never want to be my father. For all of the good qualities my father has, and trust me, there are many, he has just as many bad qualities. My father is angry and aggressive, scarred and bruised, and unwilling to seek out help. All of my life I have watched him struggle as he attempted to cope with the part of himself that he despises, daily changing his reaction to simple circumstances. One day, he may be thrilled that dinner is ready when he gets home from work, while the next, he is yelling because he wanted to cook it himself. It didn’t take much of that before I adjusted so that I was able to, well… adjust. I quickly learned how to, within seconds, change my behavior, mentality, and physical expression of emotion. I adapted in an attempt to fix the situation. As you may have guessed, this only helped so much, but this skill is still one that I carry with me
Sure there are the physical characteristics and even mental thought processes that have similar tendencies, but it is the in-depth closeness that I have always drawn from. You see, it is not as if we are synonyms so much as the same word. We have nearly identical mannerisms, planning strategies, and even, at times, thoughts. Aside from the “nice that someone understands” factor, this does have one other prominent advantage. I have had the opportunity to watch my father make all of the mistakes that I could have made. And it is because of these mistakes that he has become the most profound influence in my …show more content…
I remember being six years old when I began to worry about my father killing himself. Again, this may seem like a very sorrowful sentence, but it made me realize something very important about myself: that I never want to be my father. For all of the good qualities my father has, and trust me, there are many, he has just as many bad qualities. My father is angry and aggressive, scarred and bruised, and unwilling to seek out help. All of my life I have watched him struggle as he attempted to cope with the part of himself that he despises, daily changing his reaction to simple circumstances. One day, he may be thrilled that dinner is ready when he gets home from work, while the next, he is yelling because he wanted to cook it himself. It didn’t take much of that before I adjusted so that I was able to, well… adjust. I quickly learned how to, within seconds, change my behavior, mentality, and physical expression of emotion. I adapted in an attempt to fix the situation. As you may have guessed, this only helped so much, but this skill is still one that I carry with me